Description
The book contains four plays. The first, titled “A Shattered Life,” occupies slightly more than half the book. It revolves around the lawyer Shaheen, how his circumstances changed, and the path he took to confront life. Despite the somewhat harsh ending, I felt sorry for this character, as if I were pitying myself. The second play, titled “The Box,” did not appeal to me. It also contains, as we say, a subtle attack on Eve, or women in general. There is a hidden explanation of Eve’s cunning and the extent to which she might go in betrayal. The third play, titled “To Each His Due,” made me laugh and cry because it reflects a reality I live in. Imagine a play from 1951 that still describes the state of work in Egypt. When you strive in your work and accomplish it in Egypt, you will not find a good reward for this; rather, the opposite happens. And when you neglect your work, create obstacle after obstacle, and delay completing your work, you become favored and powerful, and rewards and promotions rain down upon you from where you least expect them. Indeed, the worst of calamities is that which makes you laugh. The fourth play, titled “The Hour Struck,” is about a sick man awaiting death. This play—especially within this collection—clearly reveals Tawfiq al-Hakim’s fascination with what we might call fateful endings, a characteristic feature of his work.
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